To protect and swerve

Not since the hit American TV show about the California Highway Patrol CHiPs have police come this close to Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

To protect and swerve

13 April 2003Joshua Dowling

Not since the hit American TV show about the California Highway Patrol
CHiPs have police come this close to Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Visitors to this year's Sydney Royal Easter Show may be surprised to find a beefed-up motorcycle in police uniform. It might look like a classic Harley-Davidson, but it is in fact a German-made BMW, a $22,000 machine called the R1200C.

It has been covered in police livery as part of the force's Easter Show display. But before motorcycle fans get too excited -- or even put in job applications -- this bike is for show only.

"The motorcycle guys might be a bit surprised when they see it, thinking it is our latest weapon, but it's just a bit of fun," said Keith Simmons, who manages the NSW Police fleet. "It shows what could be possible."

BMW provided the motorcycle for the display and police then fitted stripes and lights.

Police motorcycle fleets across Australia have generally been split 50-50 between Hondas and BMWs.

But, last year, an investigation into a crash involving a Queensland officer riding a Honda drew attention to a paragraph in the owner's manual that warns riders not to exceed 130kmh on a bike equipped with panniers -- and police equipment.

The warning had always been there but, until the Queensland crash, police departments had been blithely using the motorcycles at speeds above 130kmh.

The ever-growing emphasis on occupational health and safety regulations put the Honda's suitability for police use under a cloud.

Initially police in several states asked Honda to remove the warning from the owner's manual, or to modify the motorcycles used by police.

Honda Australia asked Honda Japan to modify the bikes, but it was not deemed feasible. Honda Australia general manager of motorcycles Ian Juster said the company sold about 80 to 100 motorcycles to police each year, representing a fraction of those sold to police internationally. Honda Japan reportedly could not justify making changes to such a small number of motorcycles.

So NSW Police are now, reluctantly, phasing out the Hondas. Just as dog squad officers grow attached to their loyal companions, many motorcyclists do not want to surrender their Hondas.

There are about 65 road-going motorcycles on the NSW highway patrol fleet. About half of those vehicles are Hondas.

The service's new motorcycles of choice are the BMW K1200 and RT1150, machines developed to handle the speed-unlimited German autobahns.

While some states are joining NSW in the switch to BMWs, Honda says it recently won the tender to supply Western Australian police with $20,000 ST1100P motorcycles.